Release
by LauraPotter95
Summary: After the Battle of Hogwarts, Ron attacks Harry in a fit of rage over Fred's death. Can Ginny find Harry? And can she convince him that he has a life to live? Disclaimer; I own nothing
1. Chapter 1

It was over.

Lord Voldemort was dead.

It was over.

Harry stood next to Voldemort's lifeless body, staring blankly at the wreckage around him. Silence. There was no more shouting, no more screams, no more death. As Voldemort's body crumbled to dust, not one thought penetrated Harry's mind.

He was not sad. He was not happy. He simply was.

Families gathered in the Great Hall, standing over the bodies of their loved ones. Some stood rigidly, jaw set; others wept openly in each other's arms.

A group of red-heads huddled in the corner of the once joyful hall. Fred Weasley's body lay on the ground, his wand still clutched in his hand. George knelt beside him, holding his brother's free hand, and staring at his mirror image that he knew so well.

Next to him was Molly Weasley, crying softly on her husband's shoulder. Nothing was worse than losing a child. Tears flowed down Arthur's cheeks, and he didn't try to hide them as he held his wife. Behind them, Bill and Charlie stood in silence, gazing down at their brother with tears in their eyes. Ginny sat by their feet, sniffling softly.

Ron and Hermione stood furthest from everyone. Hermione hung back whilst Ron slowly shuffled forward and knelt down by Fred. Tears filled his eyes as he thought about all the times he had been pranked by the twins. Memories pushed into his mind, and he rose quickly. He couldn't look at Fred anymore.

Ron looked around him at his grieving family. He wanted to blame someone for this. No, he _needed_ to blame someone. It was Voldemort's fault.

Ron (and nearly everyone else in the hall) jumped as they heard a loud 'boom' in the distance. A second later, a howling wind rushed through the castle, displacing the ornaments, books and some chairs that still stood upright around Hogwarts.

The witches and wizards inside looked towards the south courtyard in silence. The wind ceased, and hushed whispers broke out in the hall.

The Weasley's returned their thoughts to their lost family member, and Hermione took a few tentative steps towards Ron, who hadn't moved. Ron only had one thought running through his mind.

Harry.

He had gone to fight Voldemort. And the explosion, the wind...but...who had won? Ron turned and strode out of the Great Hall, heading towards the south courtyard. Hermione watched as he left, and was surprised to feel a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Ginny, tear tracks visible down her cheeks, but with dry eyes.

"We should go too" she said simply. Hermione nodded, and they both started walking out of the hall.

"Hey!"

Bill had seen them leaving, and Mr Weasley stood and walked over to the girls with him. Charlie knelt by his mother, keeping her and George company whilst the others left the Great Hall.

Ron looked over the rubble in front of him. He could see a lone figure standing in the distance, and could just make out a wand still held in their hand. As he got closer, he could see a mop of black hair, and light glinting off glasses.

Ron stepped over a large piece of the castle wall, but stopped when he saw a deep red stain on it. He looked away, repulsed by the blood, and found himself staring up at a large hole in the wall of the castle.

_Fred._

The anger Ron had forced down before bubbled over, and he clenched his fists and looked towards the hunched figure ahead.

Harry. Harry was to blame.

Hermione, Ginny, Bill and Arthur followed Ron outside in silence, walking quickly to catch up with him. Hermione frowned as she saw Ron stop and look up at the castle, but didn't slow down. Ginny strode determinedly forward, but the worry in her eyes betrayed how she felt. She had already lost a brother, she didn't want to lose Harry too.

Hermione faltered slightly as she saw Ron look away from the castle and suddenly start running. She opened her mouth, as if to ask one of the others, but they were already sprinting after him.

Harry continued to stare blankly ahead, so many thoughts running through his mind, but unable to process any of them. He barely registered someone running towards him until he heard shouting in the distance.

"Ron!"

"Hey, Ron, slow down!"

Harry tiredly raised his eyes at the noise, just in time to see an angry Ron striding towards him. Harry frowned slightly as his eyes unfocused.

"Ron?" he whispered through dry lips.

With a snarl, Ron closed the gap between them, brought his right fist up, and punched Harry in the face as hard as he could. Harry staggered back a few steps, closing his eyes for a second as pain lanced through his jaw. Blood dripped down his chin from his cut lip.

"Ronald Weasley!"

The scream sounded remarkably like Mrs Weasley, however it was Ginny that had found the breath to shout at her brother. She tried to run faster as she watched Ron hit Harry, but she was tiring quickly after weaving in between the rubble. They were still a hundred metres away from Harry and Ron, and Ginny hoped they would reach them before her brother did something really stupid.


	2. Chapter 2

The fact that Harry was still on his feet enraged Ron further, and with a roar, he launched forward and punched Harry in the stomach. Harry doubled over and tried to breathe in, but he felt a fist connect with his jaw again, and he fell sideways, landing heavily on the dusty ground.

Ron kicked him viciously again and again, and the edges of Harry's vision dimmed slightly as blow after blow forced the air from his lungs. He heard a small 'crack' somewhere on his left side, but the only thing he could feel was a deep ache in his chest.

In the part of his mind that was still fully functioning, Harry vaguely registered that Ron had stopped kicking him. His eyes blurred in and out of focus.

A wave of sadness and shock had washed over Arthur when he saw Ron attack Harry. Leaving Ginny and Hermione far behind, he and Bill kept sprinting towards the two of them. They finally reached them, and Bill grabbed Ron by the arms and wrestled him away, Ron still kicking his legs out at Harry.

Arthur knelt down by his adopted seventh son, and the way the boy looked almost brought tears to the man's eyes.

Harry lay there with an expression devoid of any emotion, and a glazed look to his once vibrant green eyes. He flinched violently as Arthur put a hand on his shoulder in concern, and he quickly withdrew it, disturbed.

Ginny was the first of the girls to catch up, and she immediately knelt by Harry and reached out to him, but her father stopped her. She looked at him questioningly, and when he gave her a hopeless look, her eyes fell on Harry again.

They had lost Fred. All of them were hurting. But it wasn't Harry's fault! Ron had no right to do this! Ginny's eyes filled with tears as a drop of blood rolled down Harry's chin, and yet he still stared ahead with a blank expression.

Before her father could stop her, Ginny was on her feet storming towards her brothers. Bill had finally let go of Ron, who was now trying to push his way past his older brother to reach Harry. He barely saw Ginny coming until Bill had stepped out of the way.

Ginny stopped right in front of him, and slapped him in the face...hard. Ginny's mouth twitched. Ironic that she was slapping Ron for punching Harry. Well, he deserved it. The next time he tried anything like that, a powerful bat-bogey hex was going his way. The only reason Ginny hadn't hexed him was because she knew he was trying to deal with the loss of Fred, and just didn't quite know how to do it.

At least he didn't bottle everything up like Harry did...although beating up your best friend wasn't any better. Ron looked mildly surprised for a second, before his face twisted into a scowl. Bill quickly stepped in between them.

"Alright Ron, back up. You know you deserved that."

Ginny turned around in grim satisfaction to see Hermione hesitantly standing a few feet away. She joined Ginny and they slowly started walking back to where Harry lay.

"Nice slap."

"Yeah well, he needed one." replied Ginny, clenching her teeth at her brother's temper.

"Is Harry ok?" Hermione asked quietly as they drew closer.

"I...I don't know. You know how he is when someone dies, but with my stupid brother and this," she said, gesturing at the destruction around her, "I don't know how he'll react."

"And he killed Voldemort...he'll think he's a murderer." Hermione whispered. Ginny swallowed. She had almost forgotten Voldemort was dead. She grimaced at some scattered ashes a few feet away.

Arthur look up as they approached. Ginny raised an eyebrow, and he shook his head, stood up, and started towards Ron and Bill. Ginny knelt down beside Harry as Hermione hung back, looking behind her to where Ron was still angrily pacing.

"Harry?" Ginny said softly.

Harry's eyes flickered upwards and met Ginny's for a second, and he frowned slightly before he closed his eyes. Ginny also frowned, and reached out a hand to Harry's shoulder.

A muffled silence seemed to descend on Harry. He managed to focus on a smudge of dirt on his glasses, which were, amazingly, still intact. Large shapes moved around the edges of Harry's vision, and he slowly blinked, trying to separate the dark shadows of rubble from the grey sky.

Something, someone, stood up next to him, and another person took their place.

"Harry?" said a familiar voice. Something clicked in Harry's mind, and he forced his gaze upwards and into focus.

He looked into chocolate brown eyes, and could make out red hair blowing in the background. He closed his eyes.

Ginny?

Why would Ginny be here? Why would she want to see him? It was his fault Fred had been killed, wasn't it? She should have at least bat-bogey hexed him by now. But there was something he had seen in her eyes...concern.

A hand touched his shoulder, and Harry pulled back violently and automatically scrambled to his feet. Everything he saw was sharp, in focus...for about a second. Harry's head swam alarmingly and he massaged his temples, managing to stay shakily on his feet. As he opened his eyes, he spotted his wand lying next to his foot. Harry bent down and picked it up, then straightened stiffly.

In front of him stood Ginny, watching him like he was a caged animal. He needed to get away. As Ginny took a step forward, Harry tightened his grip on his wand. Movement to his left caught his attention, and Harry looked around to see Ron trying to push his way past Bill.

His heart clenched as Ron shot an angry glare at him and tried even harder to get past Bill. His head snapped back in front of him as Ginny stepped closer. Harry's eyes flashed around him quickly trying to find an escape, and as he disapparated, he thought of one thing.

Home.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Ginny had felt a spark of hope when Harry had looked at her. Now all she felt was disappointment. The spot where Harry had stood moments before was now empty, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. A hand rested on her shoulder, and she turned around to see her dad looking down at her.

"Where's Ron?" she growled quietly.

Arthur smiled sadly. "I'm afraid he's unconscious right now."

Ginny looked over his shoulder at the stunned Ron lying on the ground, and Bill putting his wand away. Hermione seemed to be debating whether to talk to Ginny, or see to Ron. She took a few steps towards Ron, then huffed and turned around, cautiously stopping a few metres away. Ginny gave a pleading look to her dad, and he nodded, squeezed her shoulder, and made his way over to his two sons.

Ginny closed her eyes, trying to block out the smell of dust, the awful silence, and her overwhelming feeling of helplessness. It only worked for a second.

"Where do you think he went?" Hermione's whisper drowned out the blood pounding in her ears, and she reluctantly opened her eyes and faced her friend.

"Not the Burrow, that's too obvious. He wouldn't have gone back into Hogwarts either."

"What about Grimmauld Place?" Hermione suggested, taking a small step closer.

"No, I don't think..." Ginny stopped suddenly, her eyes wide. Hermione stepped forward again looking worried.

"Ginny? Ginny, what is it?" she asked anxiously.

"I...I think I know where he is," whispered Ginny, then shot Hermione an apologetic look before disapparating.

"Couldn't you have waited another second to actually tell me where you're going?" grumbled Hermione, turning and making her way over to where Ron still lay.

Harry opened his eyes.

The sky was a deep blue colour, with streaks of orange and red dashed across it as the sun descended below the horizon. But Harry wasn't interested in the sky. He was gazing across at the old churchyard in Godric's Hollow, scanning the gravestones. Harry willed his feet to move, and with an effort, managed to push open the gate in front of him and start walking between the graves.

After a few minutes of searching, Harry reached a large sycamore tree near the walls of the churchyard. His mind clouded for a second, then his eyes blurred as he looked down at one of the headstones.

_In Loving Memory of_

_JAMES POTTER_

_LILY POTTER_

The words cut through him like a knife, and he fell to his knees, reaching out to brush the earth with his fingertips.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry. I didn't mean..." Harry let out a large breath and tried to blink back the rapidly forming tears.

"I've missed you." He paused, trying to speak the words that he'd wanted to say for such a long time.

"I wish...we could've had more time together. I'm sorry," he hung his head.

"I wanted you here so much. I...I needed you. I needed help and advice and comfort for so many years and you weren't there. You weren't there."

Harry couldn't understand why he felt so angry. A moment ago he had felt like his heart was breaking, but now he was shouting into the night.

"Why did you have to die? Why did I have to survive? Why couldn't I have just died with you? You didn't have to save me! Why did you save me? If you had really loved me you wouldn't have left me here to face everything on my own!"

Angry tears poured down his face, and he wrapped his arms around himself, trying to stop the stabbing pain in his heart.

After a few more long minutes, Harry stood up, brushed himself down, and with one last longing look he turned away and headed towards Godric's Hollow.

Ginny scanned the names on the gravestones around her, and she finally found the one she was looking for.

_...JAMES POTTER...LILY POTTER..._

Ginny bowed her head and thought of the parents that Harry never knew. Tears came to her eyes at the thought of life without her own parents. She had never heard Harry talk about his mum and dad before, and she vowed to try and get him to open up to her. Keeping something like that inisde couldn't be healthy.

The flattened earth below caught her eye. Someone had been here. A single handprint could faintly be seen in the dirt above where the Potters were buried, as well as a smudge of mud on the corner of the gravestone.

Ginny's keen eyes slowly followed a few light footprints that led to an old gate at the edge of the graveyard.

"He's safe now. I'll try to look after him" she whispered, hoping that James and Lily Potter could somehow hear her. She made her way towards the gate and scanned the houses beyond, looking for one in particular.


End file.
